Strong to high west to northwest winds affected Eastern Pennsylvania from the evening of the 18th through the evening of the 19th. Peak wind gusts averaged around 55 mph. The winds tore down trees, tree limbs and wires and caused power outages. Over 120,000 homes and businesses lost power. All power was restored by the morning of the 21st. It was surmised that the wet soil from the recent snow melt made it easier for trees to be toppled. The stronger winds began following a cold frontal passage on the evening of the 18th. The strong to high winds reached their peak speeds during the late morning and afternoon of the 19th and then slowly decreased during the evening and overnight on the 19th.
In Monroe and Pike Counties, about 6,000 Pennsylvania Power and Light customers lost power. In the Lehigh Valley, about 11,000 Pennsylvania Power and Light customers lost power with a five to one ratio between Lehigh and Northampton Counties. In Lehigh County, in Allentown, the high wind stripped the aluminum facade off a business on Tilghman Street, tore signs down from two other businesses and tore lose a banner at the top of the Wachovia Bank and 7th and Turner Streets. Upper Macungie Township suffered the most power outages in the county. In Berks County, about 5,000 Metropolitan Edison customers lost power. In Birdsboro, the high winds caused the collapse of two burnt out buildings on North Furnace Street. In Boyertown, seven poles were knocked down.
In the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area, about 97,000 PECO Energy customers lost power with Bucks County the hardest hit. The number of customer outages at 6 p.m. EST that evening was down to 19,000. In Bucks County, a family of seven in Bristol Township had to be relocated after a tree fell through the roof of their Balsam Road home. In Falls Township, a piece of a roof was torn off an industrial building on Ridge Drive and damaged two vehicles. In Langhorne, a downed tree shorted wires which caused appliance damage to a home. In Doylestown, a store's equipment was damaged from a similar surge. The Parx horse racing card in Bensalem was cancelled. In Montgomery County, in Douglass Township, the roof of an apartment building on Market Road was partially torn away. Snapped poles occurred in Lower Pottsgrove Township. All Delaware River Bridges in the local Philadelphia area had speed reductions and banned empty tractor-trailers through the evening of the 19th.
Peak wind gusts included 61 mph in Kennett Square (Chester County), 60 mph in Forks Township (Northampton County), 58 mph in Reading (Berks County), 56 mph in Drexel Hill (Delaware County), 55 mph at the Philadelphia International Airport, 53 mph in Mount Pocono (Monroe County), 52 mph in Doylestown (Bucks County), 51 mph in Coatesville (Chester County), Willow Grove (Montgomery County) and the Lehigh Valley International Airport.| |The strong to high winds were caused by the large pressure difference between a strong high pressure system building into the United States from central Canada and a low pressure system in the Canadian Maritimes. Winds started decreasing when the low pressure system moved east of the Canadian Maritimes on the night of the 19th and the high pressure system reached the Great Lakes.